The company is working with SNEL, the state-owned
electricity company, and DRC authorities to resolve the issues,
Eric Kinneberg, a Freeport spokesman, said by e-mail today.
Freeport, based in Phoenix and the world’s largest publicly
traded copper producer, operates Tenke and owns 56 percent of
the mine. Lundin Mining Corp. has a 24 percent stake and the
rest is controlled by Congo’s state-owned mining company.

Mines such as Tenke aren’t receiving power promised by
SNEL, according to a statement on the website of Prime Minister
Matata Ponyo. Mine operators risk “enormous losses” because of
the power shortages, the government said.

Copper and cobalt-rich Katanga province has a power
shortage of more than 300 megawatts, according to the statement.
SNEL is supposed to purchase power from neighboring Zambia to
make up for part of the shortfall. The government met with Tenke
representatives Sept. 27 and will make it possible for the unit
to pay Zambia directly for power.

While Congo has about 2,400 megawatts of installed power
capacity, the World Bank says mismanagement means only about
half of it is available. Glencore Xstrata Plc (GLEN)’s Katanga Mining
project lost 67 days of output because of “recurrent general
power disruptions” in 2012, Glencore said in its annual report.

Tenke “has made substantial investments with SNEL to
secure reliable power on the Katanga grid, including the
refurbishment of four turbines at the Nseke hydro power station
that serves users on the Katanga network,” Freeport’s Kinneberg
said today.